Marbury Vs Madison Court Case

The Marbury vs. Madison court case took place in 1803, but the conflict leading up to that took place at an earlier time. A few years before the court case there was a presidential election. The election of 1800, known as the first “dirty” election, was won by President Thomas Jefferson and he eventually replaced President John Adams to become the third president of the United States.

Nearing the end of Adams’ presidency he decided to end his service by making a few more moves. Congress passed ‘The Judiciary Act of 1801’ and President Adams signs it on February 13, 1801, less than three weeks before the end of his term. This act reduced the size of the Supreme Court from six justices to five and eliminated the justices ' circuit duties. To replace

Madison took place in the year 1803, during President Jefferson’s term. The court case was between William Marbury and, at the time, the current secretary of state James Madison. William Marbury had been appointed a justice of the peace for the District of Columbia in the final hours of President Adams’ term in an attempt to fill as much of the cabinet with members of his own party. When Marbury went to get his official commission certifying that he could start his job, James Madison, the secretary of state at the time, refused to deliver Marbury’s commission therefore he could not officially become a judge until he was given his commission. William Marbury was outraged and decided to take James Madison to court and sue him. Marbury, joined by three other similarly situated appointees, petitioned for a writ of mandamus compelling delivery of the commissions. A “writ of mandamus” or simply just a “Mandamus” is an order from a court to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion

Madison was significant because it was the first time that Supreme Court reviewed the actions of another branch of government. Another important thing is that this case established the principle of judicial review. The Supreme Court is the sole interpreter of the constitution and it also has the right to declare laws unconstitutional if it feels that way. A quote from John Marshall about the Marbury vs. Madison case referencing judicial review is, “it’s emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is” (Marshall, 1803). This states that it is the court’s job and right to state what the law is and to make sure that it is followed correctly. This greatly expanded the power that the Supreme Court (Judicial branch) has. This also helped establish the judicial branch as being seen as an equal power alongside the executive and legislative